【摘要】 Almost all the countries in the world have bilingual population and many of these countries have bilingual programs (Noboa， 1987 cited in Baca Cervantes， 1998). The organization of this paper is as follows: I will separately present five issues considering bilingual education. On each issue， there is a brief summary with viewpoints and then I will state the version of significance of these issues in educational context.

【關(guān)鍵詞】 bilingual educationfamily supporttesting assessment

【中圖分類號】G271.6【文獻標識碼】A【文章編號】1673-8209(2010)07-0-02

A better understanding of the services needed by culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) students requires understanding of services provided by special bilingual education (Baca Cervantes， 1998).The organization of this paper is as follows: I will separately present five issues considering bilingual education.

Issue I: Home Support for Bilingual Education

Parents have a crucial effect on their children’s bilingual education. Involving parents in early immersion bilingual programs is an essential ingredient and a home-based approach in which parents are the educators of their children as well (Leseman Van， 2001). So， it is true that parents can create more personal and flexible environment for their children to be bilingual from an early age.

maintain and develop a native language; however the language practice at home was the most essential factor to decide whether a language could be maintained across generations (Fisherman， 1991 cited in Lao， 2004). For instance， there are many Vietnamese in Sydney now any of whom once received education at official school can speak Cantonese. Because they learn Cantonese at school and always communicate with their family members by Cantonese.

But based on Lao， 2004， the survey suggested even if bilingual parents were very supportive of developing bilingualism in their children， the high-level bilingualism and biliteracy are difficult to achieve because the exposure to second language materials is limited at home.

Issue II: Language Policy

Because the issue of language policy is usually raised in any discussion involving bilingualism (Baca Cervantes， 1998)， it seems appropriately to discuss it in my essay. Based on Guba， 1984， “policy is an assertion of intents and goals; policy is sanctioned behavior; policy is norm of conduct characterized by consistency and regularity in some substantive action area” (Guba， 1982 cited in Baca Cervantes， 1998， p. 374). For instance， bilingual education for minorities in China has always been closely linked with political policies held by the government. China is a country of 56 nationalities. Han majority comprises 92% and the other minority group makes up 8%.

Issue III: Bilingual Teachers

The issue II leads to us another issue which is of major concern: what， exactly， ought to be the qualifications of teachers in bilingual education. Such qualifications are usually determined by educational institutions (Foster， Valdman Hartford， 1982). The ideal teachers should primarily have a high ability in the second language. Secondly， they can use the flexible teaching method and vivid body language to assist primary school students to comprehend the target language spontaneously. For instance， according to a bilingual Mandarin-English program in an inner city primary school in Sydney， the professional demands for their bilingual teachers are very high. Their teachers must not only be proficient in Chinese to a level that parents feel acceptable， but the teachers also must be proficient in English in order to work as part of bilingual program (Language Australia， 2000). Based on this context in reality， I have to discuss one greatest challenge facing the school. Namely， the native-speakers of target language or the non-native teachers would fulfill the criteria of a bilingual teacher. Native-speakers generally fulfill the requirements of high level proficiency of the target language， but the local content based knowledge is also important. At the same time， the non-native teachers in an immersion program can， to large extent， fulfill the local classroom culture requirements (Truckenbrodt Courcy， 2002).

Issue IV: Bilingual Special Education

The development of bilingual special education can be considered as an extension of the equal educational opportunity movement. Large number of bilingual children are handicapped and do require special education. Firstly， in the ideal sense， bilingual special education can be defined as the use of home language and home culture along with English in an individually designed program of special instruction for the student in an inclusive environment. The main purpose of bilingual special education program is to help each learner achieve the most potential to learn language skills (Baca Cervantes， 1998).Children with certain disabilities would display many difficulties with communication and language acquisition. For typically developing language skills of these children who are English language learners (ELL)， the importance is facing the challenge that children probably will not learn any language or the possibility that it could develop the language skill over a long period(Mueller， Singer Grace， 2004). Effective training for parents and in-service training for bilingual teachers were short (Mueller， Singer Grace， 2004). Therefore， the specific courses for special educators focus on strategies for ELLs with disabilities are sorely demanded. National Association for Bilingual Education (1992) and Council for exceptional Children (2003) require that teachers of students with disabilities from non-English-language backgrounds should be able to communicate with students and be able to distinguish language differences and language disability (Paneque Barbetta， 2006).

Issue V: Assessment of Bilingual Students

Assessment is a major component of special bilingual education. The purpose of assessment is the diagnosis and placement of students in special program. Large evaluation techniques should be used and the information should be taken into the consideration of multiple contexts (Collier， 1998 cited in Baca Cervantes， 1998). According to Huempfner (2004)， how to fairly assess ELLs has become the quandary. If they are not involved in a standardized assessment， the expectations for these students and the bilingual programs that serve may be lowered. Accordingly， when bilingual children are assed， there are three elements as the distinct development: first language proficiency， second language proficiency and the extension of difficulties involving physical， learning and behavioral aspects. The students’ performance level can not be considered as the criteria to identify the second language potential. Therefore， the child’s development in the first language needs to be assed (Baker， 2006).

Some researchers suggest assessment in both two language (Juarez， 1983 Langdon， 1989 cited in Baca Cervantes， 1998). Others argued that traditional bilingual assessment testing separately in the native and second language fails to consider the idea of “interplay” between first and second language (Figueroa， 1989 cited in Baca Cervantes， 1998). Accordingly， through out the literature above， in the area of language assessment， cautions have been raised due to lack of criteria to identify (Baca Cervantes， 1998). Firstly students’ learning experience in the class should be evaluated. Secondly， tests for non English background students with insufficient exposure to English functions as proficiency tests. Thirdly， linguistic background of bilingual individuals must be considered.

Reference

[1] Baker， C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Clevedon， UK: Multilingual Matters.

[2] Foster， C.， Valdman， A. Hartford， B. (1982). Issues in international bilingual education: the role of the vernacular. New York: Plenum Press.

[3] Koyama， J. P. (2004). Appropriate policy: constructing positions for English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal， 28(3)， 401-494.

[4] Ovando， C. J. (2003). Bilingual education in the United States: historical development and current issues. Bilingual Research Journal， 27 (1)， 1-25.

[5] Truckenbrodt， A. De Courcy， M. (2002). Implementing a bilingual program. South Yarra， Vic: Association of Independent Schools of Victoria.